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Journalism of Courage
Last week, a computer virus played havoc in offices around the world. Large organisations and IT companies banned the use of MSN Messenger till they found a solution. It was easy for them; a policy directive stopped the PCs from using the MSN Messenger. But how does a home owner or a small network guy fight this menace? While antivirus companies managed to block the virus, it left everyone wondering whether they should get a free antivirus software or buy one.
Let us look at the options. I believe in the free software movement, and as a home user you should be able to get the software for free. I’m not promoting piracy here, but a lot of people believe that if it’s free, it’s bad and sub-standard. On the contrary, these are big companies making good softwares and the only reason they give it for free is to avoid piracy. I will compare three free softwares, evaluate their features and protective abilities.
AVG Free Antivirus (free.grisoft.com)
I have always liked AVG and its line of products, but considering their growth, the recent updates have not been as fast as they should have been. The antivirus software features an e-mail scanner, which scans incoming messages and cleans the infected ones, and also has a real-time scanner that keeps monitoring the PC for viruses. It has a full database of the latest viruses and can handle about 80 per cent of the attacks with no updates. It is designed very well in terms of user interface and operations, and does not drag the PC down as few others do. But with some of the recent attacks, it has taken up to about two days before detection was possible.
Bit Defender 8 (bitdefender.com)
Though Bit Defender is moving to make its entire line paid, it still has the Bit Defender 8 version. This has been stripped off its real-time scanner, which means if you don’t scan your PC manually every day, it could become infected and the antivirus will not be able to do much. In its latest paid versions, the software offers real-time scanner, but even if you don’t have it, the Bit Defender will solve the problem in a day. It can also detect 95 per cent of the viruses without updates, about 15 per cent more than AVG. But having only Bit Defender is not a complete solution, as the missing real-time scanner disables the e-mail scanning feature.
Avast4 Home Edition Antivirus (avast.com)
When I first came across Avast a few years ago, I didn’t really like the product. Till an year ago when it came with drastic changes. The only problem is that it tends to slow down the machine and scanning takes longer, but on the flip side it is updated every day. Besides, recent threats have shown that it comes up with a solution in about the same time as AVG. The best bit is its integrated Web Shield, which monitors all the websites you go through. Avast is the only antivirus software among the ones featured here that has a 64-bit compatibility, and is certified by ICSA labs.
So choose the antivirus depending on the features you want and try not to indulge in piracy.
